Link mat and border



May 5, 1931. M. H. oToOLE 1,804,027

I LINK MAT AND BORDER Filed Feb. ll, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet l 0 mgm Mary 5,1931. M H. oTooLE 1,804,027'L LINK MAT AND BORDER Filed Feb. ll, 1928 2Sheets-Sheet 2 fwffwmy Patented May 5, 193i UNITED STATES PATENT oFFlcEzMARTIN n. oTooLR, or RURRETT, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNoR To BOSTON RUBBERMAT COMPANY, or RosToN, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION or MASSACHUSETTSLINK MAT AND BORDER Application led February 11, 1928. Serial No.253,707.

This invention relates to mats for use on floors and for analogouspurposes, composed of links and pintle or hinge rods connectin suchlinks in a continuous fabric of desire dimensions, and to borders forsuch mats and means for connecting the border to the link fabric, thewhole constituting a complete mat. In this specification the term borderincludes one or more edge or border pieces extending, or adapted toextend, along one or more of the edges of the link structure. The termthus includes both a complete frame surrounding and enclosing the entirelink fabric, and a partial frame embracing a part only of the fabric, aswell as a border piece extending along only one of the sides ofthefabric. In the preferred construction the border is of substantiallyequal thickness or height to the links ofthe link fabric in the partwhich adjoins the links, and is beveled thence to a substantially lessthickness or height at its outer edge in order that a person steppingupon the mat will be less liable to Stubhis toe on its edge. Besidesthis the border gives the mat a finished quality, otherwise lacking.

The invention consists'in the combination of a link 'mat and border,including means for uniting the border to the link fabric,- ashereinafter described and pointed out in the claim with reference to thedrawings.

In the drawings,-

Fig. 1 is a plan View of a link mat and border embodying the presentinvention partly broken away and partly shown in section; y

Figs. 2 and 3 are fragmentary crosssections on lines 2-2 and 3-3respectively; Figs. 4, 5 and 6 'arei'plan vviews on-a smaller scaleillustrating various forms in which the mat embodying the `presentinvention may bemade; y "ri j,

Figs. 7 and 8 are fragmentary detail plan views, partly broken away andshown in section, illustrating alternative means for connecting the bodyofthe mat and the border.

Like reference characters designate the same parts in all the iigures.

The body of the mat is a link fabric composed of a number of linkse, a,arranged 1n parallel transverse courses and longitudinal rows, the linksin each course separated from one another and overlapping at their endsthe ends of the nearest links 4in both adjacent flanking courses. Theends of the links are perforated and are strung upon longitudinal rodsor wires b, whereby they are alined and )oined together. For the purposeof this specification such rods or wires are designated as hingepintles. The outer ends of theoutcr rows of links are likewise threadedupon and alined by end rods c which Serve also as coupling means forsecuring the border or border members d, d, at either or both of thesesides of the fabric.

Each border or border memberd is formed with notches e wide enough toadmit the outer ends of the outermost links, and with intermediatetongues or projections f which project between such links and areperforated to receive the rod c. .The latter is passed through theoverlapping tongues f and Outer?? most links, and is thus also a pintleconnect ing the border member to the link fabric.

-Other border members g and h are pro vided to finish the sides of themat interlnediatethose to which the members d are connected. They aresecured in place by conneet-ing means engaging the extremities of thepintles b, b.' One of the means here shown (Figs. l and 2) for attachingthe member g consists of hooks or eyes y' formed by bending over theprotruding ends of the pintles I) in the plane of the mat, such eyesbeing passed into recesses, or a continuing l longitudinal recess orgroove 7c in the border, .and vthere secured 'by transverse" fastenings.lfm-The preferred form of one of such fastenings is shown in Fig. 2 andit consists of ay screw Z having a Shank adapted to pass through the eyey' anda head m which is embedded in the border member, the shankcontinuing through the eye and being threaded into a. nut n likewiseembedded in the border. Preferably the screw head and-nut and the recessin which they are received are made large enough to insure againstlcutting or ch-aing a passageway through to the inner edge of theborder, and so releasing it, due to the repeated compression andexpansion in being walked upon, when made of a resilient material suchas rubber composition or a composite structure of fabric and rubber.

The opposite border piece /t is secured by vfastening means ofspecifically different construction. Here the extended ends of' thepintles are provided with eyes 0 in a plane transverse to that of themat and are entered into disconnected narrow passages or recesses in thepiece it, and a slender elongated coupling p is passed through all ofsuch eyes and through alined passages in the intermediate substance ofthe piece L. lVhen the border is made of a liexible material, as ispreferred, the coupling p is a flexible wire cable, ofdimensions-suited` to those ot' the mat, composed of numerous strandsotl fine wire. The ends of this cable may be secured by being wrappedaround the outer rods c and soldered thereto. While the last namedsecuring step is preferably used, it is not essential and may be omittedwhen theborder isvprovided as an embracing frame, for the overlappingends of the adjacent parts of such border retain the coupling. Being offlexible and resilient material. the parts of the border adjacent to theends of the coupling p may be forced aside far enough to allow thiscoupling to be inserted and made fast, after which the material willresume its normal position, conceal and protect the coupling. The use ofmaterial having these qualities is necessary when couplings of thecharacter represented by the coupling p are used, but is not necessaryin connectionwith fastenings such as the screws or pins Z. The lattermay be put in place even if the border pieces which they secure arewholly rigid. They may be prevented from accidentally working loose byheading or riveting the end of the screw shank over the end of the nut,or upsetting it in the nut so that it will not readily work out.

It will be noted that I have shown the several members of the border asmitered where they adjoin one another. While this is a preferredconstruction from the point of v'iew of symmetry and finishedappearance, 1t 1s not essential to the invention, for any one.

of the members of the border may be extended in undiminished width tothe outer edge or edges of the adjacent member or members, the lat-terthen terminating at the inner bound of the member-which is thus eX-tended. One, two or more of the border pieces here shown may be usedwithoutthe others to finish one, two or more edges (less than the wholenumber) of the mat, leaving the others unfinished, as shown in Figs. 4and 5, to serve such purposes as the location of the mat in a corner, orsnugly against one edge of a threshold, ete.

Still another mode of joining the border members tothe link structure isshown in detail in Figs. 7 and 8, and may be assumed ship with thehooked `b far enough distant from the adjacent links to pass through thebranch openings and enter the longitudinal passage 1' in the bordermember, as shown in F igs. 7 and 8. The border, being made of resilientfiexible material, is sulliciently flexible to. be bent and stretched tothe extent required for insertion of'the hooked ends of the pintles, andsufficiently resilient to return to its normal dimensions and form, ininterlocked relation- This form of connection is simple in the extreme,requiring no parts or members additional to the border and pintle rodsthemselves, and it'is applied and made fast without difliculty. YVhencompleted, it is entirely concealed by the unbroken top and bottom facesof the border member.

In order to relieve the border member of chafing and strain by theembedded pintles, the link structure is preferably reinforced adjacentto the border by narrow metal links s, the perforations in which closelyembrace the pintle rods, and.by which the rods are prevented from anyside play.

When the mat is provided with a border at one edge only, as shown inFig. 5, each two adjacent pintle rods may be made of a single wire bentat its middle part to form an 1ntegral connecting member b2, as shown;but when there are orders at opposite sides, as in Fig. 4, or at threesides, or all the sides, each pintle is made of a separate piece withhooks like the hooks b at both ends. In cases where the border piecesare applied to two adjacent sides of the mat, the endmost pintle rod c,which connects the border d to the link structure, is likewise formedwith a hook e', the bend of which occurs at the mitered junction betweenthe adjacent border members,

ends of the pintle rods.V

and the hook portion is entered into the end of the passage 7' in theborder L.

Any suitable material may be used for the links andborder of the mat.All these parts may be made of new vulcanized rubber composition, of onecolor or of different colors arranged 1n pleasing design. The use ofthis material for the border enables the mat to be less than the lengthor Width of the largest mat manufactured, so that a number of them maybe adjoined end to end to border one edge of the mat. All such, andnumerous other variations, may be made Without departure from theinvention or from the protection which I claim.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

A mat consisting of links and connecting pintles, and a border extendingcontinuously along one edge of the mat beside the endmost course of lins, said pintles extending at one end beyond said endmost course of linksand being bent to form hooks on their protruding ends, the border havinga longitudinal passage between its top and bottom faces and branchopenings in such passage extending through the face of the borderadjacent to the link structure and in alinement with the severalpintles, the pintles extending from the outermost course of linksthrough said branch openings and having bent ends located in saidpassage.

In testimony whereof I have aixed my signature. MARTIN I-I. OTOOLE.

